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October 30th

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Written by Jessi VanSon

Ever since August 13th, 2013, I knew I had Epilepsy. I was clinically diagnosed with it, and at first, no one knew, I was heartbroken. I had hoped I was one of the rare cases where 10% of the population had 1 seizure in their lifetime, and no more. But I quickly came out of that sad, sorry state. I knew, or thought I knew, this was something that would happen to me, with ripple effects going only into my family. Honestly, I never knew that someone, a total stranger, could be so kind and so concerned about just some random kid going to college.

On October 30th, 2013, I had that chance to see the good in people. At 4:20pm, I sat on one of the benches outside GCC talking to my dad on my phone. I was asking him, slightly impatient, when someone was going to pick me up. He had told me something that I didn’t hear.

I had spaced out for a few seconds, completely missing what he had just said, and he had to say my name a few times to get me back to earth. I said “Geez, I’m sorry. I spaced out, and I didn’t hear a word you said.” He then proceeded to tell me I’d be waiting a little longer, because he got held up at work. I said okay, because I was absolutely fine with it. I never really had any problem in waiting, especially when I had a book with me!

I read my book, called City of Bones, by Cassandra Clare, for about 20 minutes. Then I all of a sudden felt tired, and I put my bookmark in my book and put it down. This next part I could not remember until a few hours later, but I stood up to walk around, but I felt kind of dizzy. I started to sit back down, and next thing I know, I’m waking up on the floor, a woman’s voice saying, “She’s coming out of it!”

The left side of my face was pressed against the floor, my arms tucked under me, instinctively pulled in to catch my body from a fall, and just a foggy haze covering my senses. At this time I knew I had another seizure. I turned my head to my left side, and I saw a woman’s face.

Though my mind wasn’t clear, my memory was crystal. She was a thin woman, looked like she was in her early to mid-forties, and blonde hair. I could not make out any other details of her, because someone had taken off my glasses and set them next to my things on the bench.

She talked to me, tried to help me clear my senses, and keep me as calm as possible. I was very calm, because a seizure was no new thing to me. I fought quite hard to get out of that slow, foggy state that made me feel stupid. I didn’t want to sound that way, and I didn’t want to feel that way.

This woman understood and went slowly, making sure I understood everything that was going on. She had told me that an ambulance was on its way, to come check me out and deem if I had to go to the hospital or not, and that my family was on their way. She waited with me, just as she had waited while I came out of the seizure.

We talked, mostly about what I felt, if I had any injuries, whether I felt anything else than what I previously told her. I stayed on the floor until the EMT’s arrived, and when they assessed my situation, they deemed me okay enough to sit on the bench. By that time, I looked around and this kind woman was gone, to where, I have no clue.

At some point during this semester, I would like to talk with this woman. I would like to sit down with her and truly thank her, because I couldn’t that day. I am extremely grateful to her and her quick action to help this humbled 18 year old girl, the very one who she had no knowledge of, never met me before, but felt she needed to help. I wish there were more people out there like her to help widen my growing faith in others. I am fortunate that there are people at GCC that are willing to help others.